The 2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip was a turning point in the Middle East Peace Process. Not only did it effectively split the Palestinian polity into two distinct entities it also had the effect of isolating those two new blocs, with one group in the West Bank and the other Palestinian group Fatah, in the Gaza Strip. Since then Hamas has secured its position and has continued to refuse to acknowledge Israel, a pre-requisite for any peace agreement. Fatah meanwhile has secured its position in the West Bank with Israeli security assistance. With this quarter secure many analysts believed that the time was right for the IDF to reengage militants in the Gaza Strip; however, the continued fallout from Israel's disastrous 2006 Lebanese adventure mitigated against any large scale operations and since June 2007 Israel and Hamas have been fighting a low intensity conflict along the Gaza border area. There are rumours now however that the IDF is preparing for a large scale incursion. These rumours have been spread before of course, but with the continued threats of a Hamas breakout of the Gaza area, increasing rocket salvo attacks against Israeli communities along the strip and a rising number of IDF casualties, the decision to go after Hamas may already have been made.
A Reuters cameraman is killed while filming an IDF tank in the Gaza Strip
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